MUSCAT — Under the auspices of Ahmed Al Dheeb, under secretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Omani Centre for Investment Promotion and Export Development (OCIPED) in association with Bank Muscat hosted a seminar — ‘Exporting To Libya’ —at the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) conference room yesterday.

The seminar, which was attended by key exporters, logistics companies and key financial institutes, discussed in detail the recent study conducted by OCIPED on the potential of Libya emerging as a vital destination for Omani exporters.

Market study

Faris Al Farsi, the acting director-general of export development, OCIPED, opened the seminar with a brief introductory speech followed by a presentation which elaborated on the research and market study of the Libya market conducted by OCIPED.

“The market study on Libya has been conducted for 32 products of Omani origin and this seminar will showcase a
brief market profile for each identified product segment, including an idea of market size segmentation, growth rates, end-users and competitors,” he said.

“Besides the market research, OCIPED has also taken a step ahead and attended a Business Interaction Meet at Tripoli and Benghazi during early October as a result of which more than 30 key companies in Libya have shown interest in Omani products,” Faris Al Farsi added.

Later, Sridhar Venkiteswaran, executive director, Avalon Consulting, presented a detailed report on the market study of Libya.

The report, which threw light on the sector and product-wise import potentials in Libya, also highlighted the presence of a $1.5 billion market for 32 Omani origin products, of which 15 products account for 85 per cent of the market opportunity.

During the seminar, Sridhar pointed out that with a GDP growth of 9.7 per cent in the last five years, Libya is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. The country also has the largest per capita income in Africa.

The seminar also briefed the exporters on the procedures and other key export information regarding the business entry route, duty structures, documentation and other labeling and pricing standards.

Salim Nasser Al Bortmany, export development working group member of OCIPED and deputy general manager of Areej Vegetable Oil, saidthat OCIPED conducted study for the markets of Yemen, Syria, Kenya, Tanzania, Iran and Sudan which has resulted in substantial increase of Omani exports to these markets.